Positive outlook could end ‘very difficult economic climate’ for publishing

In an encouraging sign that the business environment is turning around for the Christian book market, Christian publishers reported increased sales for March over the same month last year—and also showed an increase in net sales for the first three months of 2010.

The latest sales findings were good news for Christian publishers, considering religious books saw a 9% drop in sales in 2009 compared to the previous 12 months, according to the Association of American Publishers (AAP).

Publishers saw a gross sales increase of more than 1% in March, a net sales increase of 8% for the month and 2% for the quarter. It was the first time the association had seen a positive change in net sales in more than year, reported the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA).

“This news is a welcome sign that we may be seeing the end of a very difficult economic climate that has had a major impact on Christian publishing,” ECPA President Mark Kuyper said. “While publishers will need to continue to work toward changes necessary in a new-media world, an upward trend in traditional book sales shows the continuing demand from consumers for Christian content.”

Fifteen ECPA member publishers reported sales in January. Each month’s aggregate sales and returns totals are forwarded for inclusion in the monthly AAP report and tracked under the religious books category.

“By collecting and then forwarding our members’ data in partnership with the AAP, we are able to get a more accurate read on the sales trends of publishers engaged in selling Christian books exclusively,” said ECPA Information and Education Director Michael Covington.

Meanwhile, religious books saw a near double-digit drop in sales in 2009. Despite the slump to $659 million in total revenues, religious books “secured steady growth” with a compound growth of 2.4% over the same time period, noted the report, which provides annual total book sales. Religious books had seen a 7.6% drop in sales in 2008.

The AAP estimates for 2009 were drawn from data from the Bureau of the Census as well as sales information from 86 publishers “inclusive of all major book publishing media market holders,” the association said.

The religion sales drop was topped by audiobooks, which fell 12.9% to $192 million. Overall, AAP estimated that publishers had net sales of $23.9 billion in 2009, down from $24.3 billion in 2008—representing a 1.8% decrease.

Sales of religious books had its largest increase in more than a year in March, according to AAP. The month’s sales for religious books rose 7% to $49.5 million, but were down by 3.5% for the year. Other than a small increase in December, the religious books category had been on a steady decline since January 2009.